Although we’d planned to skip Acapulco because of negative comments from both cruisers and the guides, a couple we’d met anchoring at Las Hadas said to go. They told us about a great place to anchor, where to land the dinghy and that the town was worth seeing. Suitable stops become fewer and farther between as you head further south down the Mexican coastline so we thought it was worth at least an overnight stop. We pulled into the very scenic, natural harbor on Sunday morning at about 8:00 am.
Once inside we immediately headed east for the spot described by our friends between the Navy base and the high rise hotels. We really didn’t see a suitable place to anchor where instructed, so we found a spot just outside of some mooring balls of the beach by the high rise hotels in about 30 feet of water. We dropped the anchor, had some breakfast and offloaded the dinghy. Water traffic started getting busy, jet skies, jet boats, banana boats, etc. buzzed by our boat. It was rougher than we liked it but, the anchor was secure so we went ashore to find out where we could land.There were roped off sections of beach in front of most of the hotels. We saw another inflatable head in to shore near the moorings so we followed. They just dropped someone off and headed back out. We inquired about landing the dinghy and were told there was no place to do so. Since it was rough, Tom took me back to the boat and decided to make a reconnaissance run further over by the Navy base. He returned disappointed, unable to find a landing spot as described b y our friends.
When a power boat with para-sailors passed by our stern nearly tangling his sailor in our rigging, we decided it was time to move. It was as if the water traffic was saying “This is our beach, how dare you anchor here???”
Consulting the cruising guides, they indicate an anchorage is located on the other side of the bay near the Acapulco Yacht Club. We motored over to the area to find it. When we got there, it was clear that the guides were all wrong. The entire area is full of privately owned mooring balls, with no place to anchor. Of the boats on moorings, most were frightening: derelicts sunk, sinking or looking like they were about to including old, neglected, beyond their prime ferries, fishing boats and pangas.
The Nuevo Club deYates (Acapulco Yacht Club) charges $3.25 US per foot, per night for guest slips, if available. For Santorini, that would be $156 per night. No thanks, especially since it didn’t look very nice. The other marina, La Marina has sinking docks with rusted out steel pilings, but they are building brand new offices, complete with an impressive stone encrusted lighthouse tower. So where does the income come from for a marina? The answer would be: slip rental, but they’re investing in new offices. Go figure.
We finally picked up an empty mooring, the went to the main dock (one not sinking) at La Marina (the only one not sinking or submerged) and asked about paying for a mooring, which the guide book said runs about $200 pesos per night. Since it was Sunday, the office was closed. A security guard who looked about 16 years old said the moorings had nothing to do with their marina, but they wanted $100 pesos to use their dock to tie up our dink.
We went back to the boat and soon a couple of guys came by wanting money for the mooring, $300 pesos to be exact. We said we’d pay $200 and no more, otherwise we’d leave. They took it, and informed us they did not have a place for us to land our tender. We went back to La Marina, tied up and told the guard we’d stop by the office the next day to pay.
We walked out through the marina gate to the main road to catch a bus into downtown. The bus was worn out and loud music blared but it was cheap. We got off near the down town stop and tried to find the Municipal Mercado. The streets were busy, and the park had a festival going on so it was packed with families, so we had to wind our way through. We had no map of town so relied on instinct and asking for directions.
We walked for blocks through the old city with dirty streets, past dilapidated buildings. We were hungry and passed by a bunch of open air pollo restaurants in a row. We stopped at one for lunch and had a delicious meal of grilled chicken, sides and cold beer : that proved to be the highlight of our time in Acapulco. We discovered that the Market was quite far away, and settled for a small supermarket for a few provisions.
Before we left, Tom wanted to go get a bit more fuel. Again, the fuel dock was managed by Performance Marine. This time we got smart: we’d jerry jug the fuel to the boat to avoid the fuel dock surcharge. No dice: they still charge the fee if you use jugs. Tom thought “No problem, I’ll just walk over to the Pemex station on the street and fill them there”. Wrong again: Performance Marine has made a deal with the gas station NOT TO SELL ANYONE FUEL IN JUGS!!! In the US, that would violate anti-trust laws, but not in Mexico. I’d say Performance Marine has some Mordita Action going on in the Mexican cities they operate in. What a racket, shame on them!
The town put out a strange vibe, we didn’t feel safe like the other Mexican cities and we did not find people to be as friendly. We couldn’t wait to leave. The best analogy for Acapulco is this: she’s like a 65 year old woman who longs to be 25, going out to night clubs and living in an era in that is behind her. In our opinion: It’s a Must Miss.